Stay With Me
by misses-brightside
Summary: Jinora and Kai keep a promise throughout the years. Will show progression of their relationship, with fluffy drabbles of everyday life here and there.
1. Promise

"Are you even paying attention?" Jinora peered over her book to see Kai focusing on the leaves he was manipulating with his airbending.

"Yeah, of course," he said absentmindedly.

"What was I just talking about?"

"Some important history things. It was very interesting."

Jinora was reading to Kai to help him catch up on the history lessons that he would often sleep through, but her patience was beginning to wear thin as his attention span was no better when it was just the two of them. Annoyance overtook her expression, and she started to wonder why she thought she could make a difference in the first place. She knew Kai wouldn't be a perfect student, but she thought he would at least try for her, if not for her father.

"Why should I waste my time helping you if you don't even care enough to listen?" said Jinora with anger filling her words.

Jinora rarely raised her voice, but she just felt disappointed. Kai was her first friend – her best friend. Aren't friends supposed to help each other? Aren't they supposed to accept help when it's offered?

"Because you care about me?" He said it jokingly while still not even keeping eye contact with her.

"_Yes. I do care about you. _That's why you should respect my time since I'm making the effort to help you, even though you don't seem to care."

Jinora sighed and began to read to herself, but she soon felt the presence of eyes fall upon her. She looked up to see Kai sitting with his back straight, different from his usual slouch. She raised an eyebrow, waiting for a response.

"Are you going to keep reading?" He asked, now seeming a lot more interested than before. It caught Jinora by surprise, but she continued to read aloud from where she left off. However, this time she asked him a question every few paragraphs to make sure he was actually listening. She became stern to show him that she wouldn't take him messing around anymore. After the third time of Kai correctly answering her questions, Jinora smiled to herself.

"Okay, I won't be mean teacher anymore," Jinora said with a giggle. She moved from her place across from Kai and sat next to him, shoulder to shoulder, with their backs leaning against a tree. A small blush painted Kai's cheeks as he looked at Jinora, very aware of the new contact between them. Whenever she would notice, his eyes would avert to the book resting on her lap, pretending that he was just interested in the words she was reading, rather than the girl reading the words.

* * *

Even though Jinora's favorite pass time was reading, she found herself enjoying Kai's company just as much. He loved to explore the surrounding areas of the air temple, and would often ask Jinora to come along. One day, their adventures were interrupted by an unexpected storm. They noticed that it would have rained eventually, but thought they would make it back to the temple before it got too bad. They found a cave and retreated there, hoping that they wouldn't be stranded for too long. After looking at the ominous clouds stretching across the sky, they realized that they would be there for at least a few hours.

"Well, I guess we're stuck," said Jinora.

Kai was standing behind her as she looked at the heavy downpour of rain. Her hair was curled slightly more than usual from being damp. When she turned around to look at him, he searched his mind for something to say.

"That puts a damper on things, don't you think?" It was enough to get a laugh out of her. She walked over to him and sat down, bringing her knees up to her chest. Kai joined her on the ground and continued to make small conversation.

He learned that he had to start making a conscious effort to speak up more if he was going to stare at her as much as he did. Jinora has caught him looking at her for no reason on more than one occasion. It never seemed as if she minded much, always returning his gaze with a smile, but he didn't want to make a habit of staring. She was really pretty and nice and smart, and Kai wondered if this was what a crush felt like. Maybe this was just what being a preteen boy around a preteen girl felt like.

He would see girls and think they were pretty when he was in the orphanage and on the streets, but his interest never extended beyond the first initial glances. He wasn't interested in making relationships with anyone, because no one would stick around. There was no point. He could get along just fine with his exterior layer of charisma to get people on his side long enough to make a quick buck or get a meal when he needed it. When people found out he was a fake and turned their back on him, it was just fine because he didn't want their affection anyway.

He thought his time with the airbenders was done once he ran away from Mako and Bolin and got captured by the Dai Li.

_I let them see through me too soon. Now I'm stuck here. _The feeling of hopelessness and regret swelled inside him in the prison. Then Jinora came. She didn't care that he ran away, and she never cared that he was a fake in the first place.

"Oh, my dad will probably be worried about us," Jinora's voice snapped Kai out of his thoughts, "Hold on one second. I'll use my spiritual projection to tell him where we are."

She got into her meditation position, and he wasn't exactly sure when she left, but she seemed focused the entire time none the less. Her spiritual projection was how she found him in the Dai Li training camps; it was how she saved him. He examined her and continued to wonder how exactly her powers worked. When her eyes opened again, Jinora was met with Kai looking intently at her face, and her cheeks became flushed with red. Kai wanted to punch himself for letting her catch him staring again, but he still decided to ask her the questions that have been occupying his mind for a while.

"So, how does your spiritual projection work? Do you have to know what place you're going to?"

Jinora took a few moments to think before she answered.

"Well, it used to be that way. Now I've been getting a lot better at finding specific people, rather than just locations. I guess I kind of have you to thank for that." She looked down at her hands intertwined in her lap, a sweet smile forming on her face.

"Why me?" _What difference could I have made?_

"Well, besides Korra in the spirit world, you were the first person I sent my projection to." She was looking up at him now, smiling in a way that was almost infectious.

"How _did_ you find me, exactly?" He was getting more and more nervous as she answered his questions, but his curiosity overpowered the knot in his stomach.

Jinora's eyes fell to her lap again, which Kai soon noticed meant that she was just as nervous as him.

"I guess we have a connection."

After a period of silence, Jinora was afraid she said the wrong thing. She's pushed small boundaries before, like hugging him and kissing him on the cheek when they didn't know each other very well. She definitely liked him as more than just a friend, but she wasn't sure if he felt the same. She didn't want to make things awkward, especially when they were stuck in this cave together for at least another hour.

"Is that why you care about me?"

As Jinora heard the question, she brought her eyes up to look at Kai. He still wasn't looking at her, and his smile was solemn. She smiled warmly at him, remembering the first time she helped him study.

"It's more like we have a connection because I care about you."

Kai continued to look at the ground, his expression starting to fall.

"Is that okay?" asked Jinora, a bit confused. She wasn't used to seeing Kai like this. He was always so excited and eager, usually seeming as if nothing bothered him. She was well aware of the fact that he could put on a show and display whatever he wanted people to see him as, but Jinora has prided herself on being able to see the truth in him ever since their first encounter. There wasn't a veil upon him right now, and he was more transparent than she's ever seen him before.

"I'm just not used to people caring about me, and if they did, they didn't stick around. I guess that's what happens when you're a thief." Kai started to laugh, and the shine returned to his eyes as he looked up to face her.

_There it is, _Jinora thought. He was trying to hide again, trying to brush everything off his shoulder as if he didn't care. Jinora didn't want to be just another person he was trying to fool long enough for him to slip away.

"I'll stick around. I promise." Jinora wasn't smiling anymore. She was serious and unwavering.

"Okay." Kai didn't know how else to respond. He couldn't take his eyes from hers; her gaze was becoming hypnotic. Was there something else?

"What about you?" Jinora asked, somewhat disappointed in his response, or lack thereof.

"What about me?"

"Will you stay? I'm not holding it against you or anything, but you ran away in some form or another before. I'm pretty sure we would have noticed you getting kidnapped by the Dai Li if you were with us in the Earth Kingdom."

"I'm sorry about that," Kai said, still not able to look away. She was still waiting for a response. He normally wouldn't agree to anything like that. Life never being certain was the one thing that became apparent to him over and over again throughout his life, but something was different. He didn't want to say no.

As he looked at Jinora's stern expression, Kai felt more tethered to where he was. She was a rock holding him down, but from what he could tell, it wasn't in a bad way. He decided to take a gamble, so he summed up all of his courage – which was surprisingly more than he needed in any other tough situation he's been in – and let the words come from his mouth.

"I will."

Jinora's expression softened, and she grasped his hand. "Okay, so we'll promise to never leave each other." Her voice was bright, like the smile on her face. Kai returned the expression, happy with his decision.

The storm stopped later in the evening, and they returned to the air temple where Kai felt a little more at home.

* * *

**A/N: Hello there. I've realized that I'm way too deep into this ship, considering that this is the first time I've written a fanfiction in 6 years. Sorry if some parts sound awkward, especially in the beginning. There's so much Kainora going through my head all the time that I've decided to actually write it down. Hope you guys enjoy!**


	2. Changes

Just a short while ago, Jinora was the only person her age on Air Temple Island. Then Kai came, and she had her first friend. Now, Tenzin told her that they found more airbenders who wanted to train with them, including some kids. It made Jinora _so _happy. Not only would it be less lonely, but her culture and her people were being revived. She couldn't wait to meet everyone once they came.

As Jinora was on her way to go find Kai and pass some time, she came across Ikki, bouncing around as usual. "Hey Jinora! Are you excited to get some new kids around here? I am! No offense, but you were getting kind of boring. I'm so ready for some fun people to be around, like Uncle Bumi!"

Jinora rolled her eyes at Ikki's comments, "Oh, be quiet. You'll have a hard time finding friends if you're so annoying all the time," she teased.

Ikki huffed at her sister, "Well, you'll have a hard time finding friends if you're always such a killjoy!"

"I _do _have friends." Well, she had one friend.

"Yeah, since no one's around. It's easy to make friends when you don't have a choice!" Ikki said as she stuck her tongue out at Jinora.

"Whatever. I'm leaving," Jinora said as she stuck her nose in the air and walked away.

_Ikki's so stupid sometimes_, she thought. She's always trying to pick some petty fight for entertainment. Jinora loved her sister, but she definitely wouldn't mind having others around to take her off her hands.

As time went on, Ikki's words started to bother Jinora more and more. Would she and Kai even be friends if there were other kids around? They _were_ pretty different. She was more serious, and he was more carefree. She loved to read and learn about history, and Kai could hardly stay awake when he was even around a book. He would pay attention and listen whenever she read to him, but she knew it was out of consideration. She always even had reservations about going on adventures with him, albeit with good reason. He always eventually convinced her to come along, but would he stop making the effort if he didn't need to anymore? She's sure that more people will come along and be more willing to "have fun" than she was.

The whirlwind of thoughts in her mind came to a halt when she caught sight of Kai waving at her with a grin spread across his face. He was sitting down in the spot they would often come to whenever they had time to spare or just needed a break. She sat down next to him and started to complain about Ikki.

"Really? She called you a killjoy?" He said, starting to laugh, "Well, you _could_ lighten up a bit sometimes, miss 'we'll get in trouble.'"

Jinora lightly punched his shoulder, "I don't need to lighten up. You guys need to take things more seriously."

Kai raised an amused eyebrow at her, feeling as if she just proved his point. "Whatever you say, Jinora," he said as he leaned his head back against a tree.

He noticed Jinora starting to look down at her lap. "You do know you're not boring, right? I was just kidding," he said, hoping he didn't hurt her feelings. He's not quite used to caring about what other people think.

"I know. It's just that…" Her words started to trail off before she looked up to meet Kai's eyes, "Do you think we would be friends if there were more people around?" Kai looked as if he was confused for a moment, almost concerned. "I mean, am I even the type of person you would want to hang out with if you had the choice?"

Kai continued to look at her, wondering why she would even ask that question. She was incredible. He should be the one asking that question to her. Jinora was smart and talented, so why should she want to be around the street rat all the time if she could choose? Regardless, she looked like it was bothering her.

"Well, yeah. Of course I would still want to hang out with you if I had the choice – not that I don't have a choice. I've been alone for a while, so I think I could handle it some more if I wanted. Even though you used to just be a girl that was around," she winced when he said that, and he realized he was rambling and needed to get to the point, "I ended up really liking you." Jinora looked surprised after he finished, and Kai started to blush when he realized what he said.

He started to rub the back of his neck and looked to the sky, "I guess what I'm trying to say is, you'd still be my best friend no matter how many people were around."

Jinora smiled at him. It was the first time he called her his best friend. It was understood in a way, but it still made her happy to hear him say it.

* * *

Within a week, a new group of airbenders came to the air temple. It was exciting to see the large clusters of people around, but it also made the air temple seem more like a tourist site rather than Jinora and her family's home.

While Tenzin was explaining where people would be staying and their daily schedule, Jinora searched the area for a familiar face. If Kai was around, she couldn't see him. Maybe he felt weird about everything as well.

Kai was standing off to the side, observing the new faces. He was used to being in crowded places, but he was never expected to actually know the people he was surrounded by. It actually made him feel lonelier. There weren't that many people around before. The only airbenders who were at the air temple at first were Jinora's family, Korra, and the others who were trapped in the Dai Li camp. Everyone was pretty friendly with each other, either due to familiarity or a shared experience, and he hoped that would continue. Although he was getting better about being around others, he still couldn't help but be a bit skeptical of new people. The fact that he could overhear what some of the new airbenders were saying didn't help either.

"Hey, you see that girl over there? I think she's one of the original airbenders, and she's not half bad," a young boy said to his friend with a smirk occupying his face.

Kai followed his line of sight, and it was obvious that he was talking about Jinora. He felt a small pang in his chest at the realization. Kai didn't like the sound of some random guys talking about her like that. Kai watched him for a bit, looking at him from the corner of his eye to see if he could a better read on him. He found out his name was Chen, but there wasn't much else. Just another kid.

* * *

The first day of training the new airbenders was similar to what Kai experienced before. Everyone was exhausted from the physical activity and very unstable with their bending. People were falling over, getting knocked down, and looking incredibly uncomfortable when trying to mimic certain moves.

Eventually, Tenzin realized that it was better to separate classes based on skill level. He would focus on the more advanced students, while leaving his kids to help teach the basics. It made things a little easier, and Jinora liked the extra responsibility, but she was not fond of the fact that she couldn't help with the classes that Kai was in. He was already such a talented bender, and that was great, but it didn't change the fact that she missed him.

"Maybe I should pretend to fall behind so I can be in your classes. I like you as a teacher way better than your dad anyway," Kai said as they were resting after training one day.

The comment made Jinora's face feel warm. Even though teaching new benders could be hard and even frustrating at times, having Kai just be there would make it more enjoyable.

"No. You just need to work hard and get better so you can hurry up and start teaching classes with me," Jinora smiled at her words. They would make a great team.

"Ha. How long do you think that'll take? I mean, I know I'm amazing and all, but I don't know if I could be considered a _master_ any time soon." Kai liked to play around with the idea that Jinora deserved to be considered an airbending master. Only because it's true, though. She's an amazing airbender, and it's about time she realized it.

"Oh, don't worry. You can start out as my assistant. You'll get there eventually," she teased. She wasn't denying it anymore, so that's a start.

* * *

**A/N: Hi you guys! This chapter didn't exactly turn out how I imagined it to be. There was supposed to be more to it, but I felt like I dealt with a lot of small things here and there that served as beginnings, and decided not to make it more jumbled than it already is. Because of this, the next chapter may be pretty short. Sorry about that! Also, thank you so much to those of you that reviewed, followed, and/or favorited! Really encouraging stuff. See you next time!**


	3. Motives

"Hey, watch this!" a young airbender said as he mastered a move before the rest of his classmates.

"Stop being a showoff, Chen," replied Jian, the boy's friend, "Some of us are having a hard enough time without you boasting."

Jinora was walking among the airbenders and observing their progress as Meelo and Ikki were yelling commands at everyone. As Chen saw her coming in their direction, he repeated the move just in time for her to see. Jinora stopped to observe his form, and he looked at her with a triumphant expression after he was able to once again execute it flawlessly.

"Good job," Jinora said with an encouraging smile, and continued to walk on towards the other students.

Chen raised an eyebrow at Jian, "See, I told you I could impress her. It doesn't take much when everyone else around here can hardly pick up a staff."

Jian looked annoyed as he got up after managing to trip over himself, "Sure, impress her for the one day you're still here before you get promoted to the next class. Then you can have fun trying to impress her old man."

Chen thought back to the frightening image of Tenzin and shuddered. Then he looked back at Jinora and admired her quiet and sweet demeanor. Cute and easy to deal with was his favorite type of girl. He preferred to be in an easier class like this anyway; it made waking up so early less painful.

As he continued to watch Jinora, he noticed her spending time with one student more than the others.

"No Yung, like this," Jinora said as she adjusted Yung's arms. After he repeated the move, she smiled in approval and looked more excited at his improvement, "You did it! Great job!"

"Thanks," he said, looking modest. Although Yung was one of the first airbenders brought to the air temple, he didn't catch on quite as quickly as the others, so he continued to practice the basics. "You're really nice about helping us, just like Kai."

His words warmed Jinora's heart. Even though a lot of people were skeptical of Kai, she knew that he was great person who cared about others. Yung was proof of that, since she knew that Kai tried to help him in the Dai Li camp. It was nice to hear that others thought they were similar; it's definitely a compliment in her book.

* * *

"What did you say you were having trouble with again?" Jinora asked Chen. He asked her for help after the training session ended, and even though she was on her way to see Kai, she would feel bad if she turned down helping someone.

"Um, I was having trouble doing the air funnel thing." He said quickly, almost as if caught off guard.

Jinora raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you sure? You seemed like you were doing fine during training."

"Well, I'm not sure about that. See, look." He created a gust of wind, and shortly after his hands began to fumble. His expression changed to one of shock before he took a fall to the ground.

Jinora stood there for a moment without speaking, unsure of what she just witnessed.

"Okay. Let's start from the beginning."

* * *

For the next few days, Chen continued to ask Jinora for extra help. However, regardless of the afterhours training, he seemed to be doing worse in class. She spent more time helping him, hoping that he would improve soon.

"So, you spend a lot of time reading, right?" Chen asked as he was working on some moves.

"Not so much lately, but yes," She replied, hoping that he would focus more on his training. She was getting tired, and wanted to have a bit of free time left over after helping him.

"Why? It sounds boring. Wouldn't you rather do something more fun?"

"It's fun for me, so that's why I do it," she said with a tinge of irritation in her words.

"But you know, you're pretty cute when your head isn't in those books."

"Thanks, I guess," she said, now very ready to end the lesson, "I think that's enough for today. You're getting better, so that's good. I'll see you tomorrow."

Jinora left to get some rest before dinner started. She sat down with one of her favorite books before she heard a familiar voice.

"Long time no see."

Jinora looked up to see Kai walking over to her. She smiled at the sight and put down her book, not even bothering to remember the page she was on. Ever since she started to help Chen with his bending, the time she spent with Kai began to dwindle. The only time she could really see him these days were during meals.

"I know, _way_ too long," she responded tiredly as he took a seat next to her.

"You're still tutoring some of the benders after classes?"

"Well, it's one kid. He just needs a lot of help."

"All that time for one person? And you said you were worried that I would run off and find someone I like better," Kai said jokingly.

"It's not like that. Trust me, I would much rather spend my time with you. I just want Chen to get better so he can catch up with everyone else."

Kai recognized the name, and remembered that he wasn't too fond of the guy.

"So, he's not good at airbending?" He asked, now feeling more curious.

"I wouldn't say that," Jinora laughed, "but it is strange. He used to do so well. Then all of sudden he could hardly handle a simple air blast."

Kai pouted and crossed his arms, "Sounds like an attention-seeker to me."

"Why so harsh all of a sudden?" Jinora said with an amused look on her face, "Feeling jealous?"

"_No,_" Kai said defensively, "I'm just agreeing with you. It's weird that he conveniently can't hold his own once you're willing to help him. You shouldn't let people take advantage of you just because you're too nice to see through a person's motives."

"Oh, stop being so cynical. Not everyone has a motive."

"You'd be surprised. I've seen a lot of things, Jinora."

"Okay, so what's _your_ motive?"

Kai started to feel embarrassed. This wasn't about him. This was about some guy who thinks he can get Jinora to like him by playing games. He obviously didn't know her at all. Jinora didn't need a scheme to like a person. That's what makes her great. She can like and trust you while knowing your flaws and mistakes.

"To not have one anymore, I guess?" he said with an unsure tone to his voice.

Jinora gave him a warm smile in response, "Glad to hear it."

Feeling nervous, Kai wanted to change the subject. "So what's that book you're reading?"

"Oh, it's one of my favorites. It's a romance novel about two warriors who have to fight their way through a war, but are still trying to hold on to each other so they can be together in the end," she said as she was flipping through the pages, excitement growing in her voice. She looked towards him with the type of huge smile on her face that made him lose his train of thought. After taking in his blank expression, Jinora let her enthusiasm fall.

"Sorry," she said with a half-hearted laugh.

"For what?" he said, not realizing the visible effect she had on him.

"For boring you with my books. I know they're not that interesting."

"What do you mean? If they make you that happy, then they have to be interesting. Just because reading isn't my hobby doesn't mean it's a bad one," Kai said as he tried to explain himself.

"After all, it's pretty cute when you're reading and you can tell what's going on by the faces you make," he added with a laugh.

"What? I don't make faces."

"Yes you do. You'll sit there quietly reading for a while, and then all of sudden your eyes will get all wide and you'll look like you just saw a huge lion turtle or something. To be honest, the first time I noticed I got a little scared, but I then I realized it's just a Jinora thing."

"A Jinora thing?"

"Yup. Those things that make you different, like that projection thing you do, or being the only one with enough patience to teach an entire class of new airbenders while keeping a cool head. By the way, you should do us all a favor and help your dad with that. Classes are starting to get brutal."

"I'll try my best," she said with a touch of amusement in her voice, "And Kai?"

"Yeah?"

Jinora leaned in and quickly pecked his cheek, "Thanks for liking me for who I am."

Kai's face reddened, and he rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish grin on his face.

"No problem."

* * *

**A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry it's been a while. I just got done with finals, so I finally had some time to sit down and write. I wanted to show Kai having a bit of a protective and jealous side in the process of developing feelings for Jinora. Since he used to be a thief, I don't think it's hard to believe that he can be possessive of people he cares about. I also wanted to give a better look into why Jinora likes Kai so much even though they're not so similar on the surface. I still didn't get to add the part I wanted in this chapter yet, so I typed it up as its own chapter and will upload it in a couple of days. I hope you're enjoying the story! Also, thanks again to those of you who followed/favorited/reviewed this story. You guys are awesome!**


	4. Home

As the holidays were approaching, it became the perfect time for the new airbenders to visit their homes for the first time since coming to the air temple. There was talk everywhere about plans being made and reunions between siblings, parents, and significant others. It was a happy time, but Tenzin made sure that everyone got their fair share of training before going on the break.

"I trust that you all will maintain your habits such as meditating every morning, keeping a vegetarian diet, and exercising regularly."

Jinora hoped, for the sake of her father, that everyone would keep their laughter down. Even as the most serious among her siblings, she recognized that everyone needed a break eventually. The following week before everyone left, the schedules went as per normal. However, one afternoon as Jinora was helping Chen, she overheard the conversation of some airbenders passing by.

"I'm so excited to be out of here for a while. "

"Who isn't? Being an airbender is cool and all, but I didn't know a break would be so hard to come by. Talk about a great way to start appreciating your family."

"But have you noticed the little guy lately? He seems down in the dumps. I know he's usually the most energetic during airbending lessons, but he's also the first one to try and sneak a nap in during meditation and history lessons."

"Didn't he have a weird backstory? An orphan or something? Maybe he doesn't have anywhere to go."

"Oh yeah, that's rough."

"Jinora! How's this?" Chen asked, snapping Jinora out of her eavesdropping. She looked down, feeling terrible. She didn't even think about Kai feeling left out in the middle of all the excitement.

"Yeah, you're doing great, but I have to go. You can practice more in class tomorrow," she said before running off. Surprised by her sudden departure, he called out for her to wait, but she wasn't paying attention.

* * *

"Mom?" Jinora peeked her head around the door into the kitchen to see her mother preparing some vegetables and her father sitting at a nearby table reading a newspaper.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Kai is spending the holidays with us, right?" she said, now walking into the room to stand beside her.

Tenzin looked above the pages of his newspaper curiously, and he shared a gaze with Pema. Jinora began to realize that she wasn't the only one who forgot about Kai not having a family to go back to. Pema looked at Jinora with an understanding and loving expression.

"Of course he is. He's a part of our family now."

"Thanks mom! I love you!" Jinora said quickly as she hugged her mother and ran out of the room.

"I love you too, dear," said Tenzin with a blank look on his face, still holding up his newspaper. Pema walked over to him and left a kiss on his cheek.

"Don't be bitter, Tenzin. I used to be just as excited whenever I went to go see you before we started dating."

Tenzin felt a mixture of love towards his wife, and uneasiness at the thought that his daughter and a boy were being compared to a married couple.

* * *

Jinora had more trouble than usual trying to find her friend around the air temple. She finally found Kai sitting against one of the walls overlooking the baby bison, away from everyone else. She quietly took a seat next to him and nudged his arm with her elbow.

"Hey, how's it going?" she asked cheerfully.

He looked at her and brought a smile to his face, "Alright. Don't you usually tutor that guy around this time?"

"I decided to take a break for today. What are you doing up here?"

"Taking a break," he said.

Kai didn't sound like he wanted to talk, and Jinora knew that, but she hated to see him unlike himself.

"Are you excited about the holidays coming up? They're always so much fun," she said, trying to get the conversation going. Kai looked down upon hearing her words.

"Yeah, I guess," he said, his smile becoming harder to maintain.

"Mom said that she's putting me and you in charge of making the custard tarts. I don't think she trusts us with a main dish," Jinora said with a small giggle.

Kai looked at her with confusion spreading across his features, but Jinora still continued.

"We'll have to test out the fillings to make sure it tastes right, so we'll probably end up eating so many that our stomachs will start to hurt. That doesn't make it any less fun, though."

Kai's smile became more genuine as Jinora talked more about the traditions her family had.

"That does sound like fun." This was probably the first time Kai was ever excited about a holiday. They were never something to look forward to when you didn't have anyone who cared about you.

"It'll be even more fun around the air temple since there won't be many people around. We get to sleep in, and we can explore and play with the bison just like we used to. Sometimes we even go to see my gran gran in the South Pole. I think she'll like you."

"Are you sure about that?" Kai said, now seeming nervous.

"Yes, I'm sure. Once she holds your face like this," Jinora gently put one of her hands on each of Kai's cheeks, "and says you're a handsome young man, you know you're in for life."

Kai felt his face heat up beneath her palms, and he gave a grateful look to Jinora.

"Actually, can I ask a favor? It's okay if you say no." he said hesitantly after thinking for a moment.

"Anything."

"Could you give me an airbending lesson sometime? Just the two of us?"

"Of course."

* * *

**A/N: Hello lovely people. This is the part that I've been wanting to include in the past couple of chapters. It's one of my favorite moments that I plan on writing in this story. It's the transition of Kai actually becoming a part of the air family. Of course, it'll take some time before he's completely comfortable around everyone like he is with Jinora, but now he can see that there's a place where he'll always belong with people who have open arms for him. My sweet cinnamon bun child, he's so precious. Also, I'm not exactly sure what holidays they celebrate in the Avatarverse, so I just left that up in the air. Again, thank you for all of your support! Your reviews/favorites/follows make me so much more excited to write and upload these chapters. **


	5. Vulnerable

Kai always felt he held immunity against nature's attempts to slow him down. He could withstand the coldest winters without even suffering a sniffle, and for him it grew to be a necessity rather than a luxury. Escaping to the streets alone did not allow for vulnerability. A sympathy evoking past served as a blessing, but showing any type of physical weakness was a curse. You couldn't fight or run. The pitiful looks felt disgusting. The ability to go unnoticed disappeared. Kai came to this realization in his younger years, and ever since then he built walls. Nothing could break through, and they hardened over time. Sometimes Kai even surprised himself by the effectiveness of his strategy, not exactly sure how it worked, but it made life easier. The mind contained a power over the body that proved stronger than the elements.

* * *

"Jinora, I need to speak with you for a moment."

Jinora looked up from her chores to see her father approaching her.

"Yes, daddy?"

"Kai is acting strangely. He can't keep his focus during lessons, and his balance seems off. I asked if he was okay, but he keeps insisting he's fine. Can you just…check on him?"

"Oh, okay." She finished folding a shirt before putting it away and running off.

Tenzin watched her disappear through the door. He could do just fine with his daughter not going near a boy until she was an adult, but he knew if Kai was going to listen to anyone, it would be Jinora. Part of him felt disappointed that he failed to prevent them from getting any closer, but another part recognized that no matter his efforts, nothing would stop them.

* * *

"Hey, Kai!" Jinora yelled as she caught a glimpse of her friend. He looked in the direction of her voice, and gave a small wave. She could see what her father meant. Even from a distance, she could see his lack of energy. She noticed his fight against his eyelids to stay open, the slight hunch in his shoulders, and the extra work it took for him to keep the smallest smile on his face. Once Jinora came to his side, she took a moment to observe him.

"Hi Jinora," he said quickly, not wanting to worsen the pain in his throat.

"Hi, are you feeling okay? You don't look too great."

"What do you mean by that? I'm fine." He spoke defensively, which only made Jinora more suspicious.

"Are you sure? You know, you can take a day to rest if you're feeling si-,"

"I don't get sick." Kai cut her off before she said the word he hated so much. His body turned to face Jinora with his eyes hardened and staring straight into hers. Once he saw the hurt look on her face, he felt bad for snapping at her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say it like that, but I'm fine. Okay?" he said after letting out a sigh.

"Okay, if you say so," Jinora said with concern filling her voice, "but if you do start feeling…not fine, then you can tell me. It's a lot easier to get better with help."

"Sure, but there's nothing to worry about, so I won't need the help."

As Jinora turned away, she heard Kai sniffle. She looked back at him and raised an eyebrow.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Mmhmm." She smiled at him, knowing that she wasn't letting this go.

Jinora stayed close by for the rest of the day. She saw him vigorously rubbing his nose to prevent a sneeze from escaping, she saw the strain in his face as he tried to hold in his coughs, and she saw him stumble multiple times. Once Kai knocked over another airbender with an air blast after he lost his own balance, Jinora confronted him again.

"Kai, you need to lie down," she said while placing a firm hand on his bicep.

"No, I don't." He took a step back, making Jinora release her grip.

"This is getting ridiculous. You can't keep on denying that you're," said Jinora before Kai interrupted her once again.

"_Jinora._ I'm just having an off day. That's it."

"I'm not buying it. I can tell when you're lying." Jinora stood with her hands on her hips and her eyes focused Kai. Kai had a talent for knowing when people were lying, too, and he could tell that Jinora wasn't bluffing. She knew him pretty well, and it worried him a little. He broke their eye contact and turned on his heel.

"I'm telling you Jinora, I'm not si- _achoo!"_ Kai sneezed, probably for the first time that day, and fell back after a dazed look took him over. Jinora ran behind him so that his back fell against her chest, and her arms wrapped around his torso. She then had no other choice but to drag the unconscious Kai to his room. She almost felt bad about her happiness of what happened due to knowing this made getting him to rest much easier.

* * *

Kai woke up in his bed, covered with blankets. He looked around trying to remember how he got there. His memories left off with him talking to Jinora.

_Did I faint? Please, no._ He sat up to bury his face in his hands when a damp cloth fell from his forehead and onto his lap. He picked it up and examined it. Was Jinora taking care of him?

_She saw me faint like an idiot. She probably had to take me here. She's going to think I'm weak. _

As he continued to think, the embarrassment grew in Kai's mind. So much so that he didn't notice Jinora walking through the door. She carried a tray which held a bowl of soup that still had steam rising from it and a glass of lychee juice.

"Did you have a nice nap?" she said cheerfully as she took a seat next to him on his bed. She placed the tray on his lap and took his image in. She could tell that the extra sleep helped.

"Um, yeah, but I was just tired. That's all," he said, trying to create an excuse for what could only be the most embarrassing moment of his life.

"Don't." Jinora gave him a stern look before bringing an amused smile to her face, "You already blew your cover. There's no going back now."

"I'm sorry I caused you trouble, and I'm sorry you had to see me like that," he focused on the bowl of soup in front of him, refusing to meet Jinora's eyes.

"What's your problem with being sick? Why are you acting like you need to be ashamed of it?"

Kai thought about whether he should tell her. Truthfully, Kai feared opening up to people. Up until this point, Jinora always just _knew_.It felt like her big, brown eyes could stare into your soul and gather everything needed to make you feel like there was nothing else worth telling. He was thankful for that, because he never had to make himself vulnerable. However, looking at her, he realized that she gave him no reason to be afraid. Jinora already proved that no matter what she knew about him, she would still look at him the same way.

"I don't want to be weak, and being sick makes me weak. The last time I was sick was when I was seven years old. People would pass me on the street and their reactions would be a mixture between pity and being grossed out. Other kids would push me around because I couldn't fight back, and all I could do was take it. So, I decided that I would never get sick again. It worked until now." After he finished talking, he slowly looked up to see Jinora still looking intently at him. Her eyes appeared softer than usual, and her mouth formed a small frown. She felt pain. Pain for _him. _

"I'm sorry you went through that, but no one over here is going to think you're weak for getting a cold. If anything, they'll be more afraid of you," Jinora tried to cheer him up, and continued to talk when his only response was a small smile, "but no one is going to push you around, and no one is going to look down on you. We care about you, and all we want is for you to feel better."

"Okay, fine. I'll stop being stubborn," he said as his smile grew.

"Thank you. Now say 'ahhh'!" Jinora picked up a spoon that she filled with soup and brought it towards his mouth.

"You know, I think I can feed myself," he said.

"Nope. You just said you would stop being stubborn and let me take care of you. It's the least you could do after I had to work so hard carrying your unconscious body over here. So open up."

Kai reluctantly let Jinora feed him, but he became less resistant to the idea as he saw how her eyes lit up from giggling every time she gave him another spoonful.

"Actually, I think I feel all better," Kai said enthusiastically after finishing the last of the soup. Jinora could see him reaching for his covers and knew that he would try to get up.

"Good. So it'll be more like an extra break when you're spending the rest of the day in bed. I'll check on you again when it's time for dinner." Jinora placed a hand on Kai's cheek and leaned in to kiss his forehead. His surprise did not go unnoticed as his face turned red, and it only worsened when their eyes met.

"And you're nowhere near better," she said with a knowing smile.

"What?"

"Your temperature. You're still burning up."

"Oh, right. I can't hide anything from you," he said with an embarrassed laugh.

"Don't forget that. Now get some rest."

Kai watched as Jinora left the room. She made him feel warm when all he knew was harsh and cold. She scared him, but only because she continued to give him reasons to not be fearful. She had the ability to break down his walls, and maybe his reasons for fighting to keep them up were disappearing.

* * *

**A/N: Hello again. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I wasn't originally planning on writing this, but I really love how it turned out. Maybe in a later chapter I'll write something similar, but with an injured Jinora instead. And again, thank you so much for your support! **


	6. Fear

Jinora grew accustomed to fear over time. She was captured and minutes away from having her bending taken away, her soul neared destruction, and she faced a spirit of darkness to help Korra maintain balance in the world. However, that doesn't mean the effect of fear wears off over time. When she faces tragedy, the pace of her heartbeat still increases to the point where it becomes her sole focus. The tightness in her chest still makes it hard for her to breathe. The possibilities of what can occur still race through her mind. The thought of someone not being able to save the day still plagues her, even though she knows that she has to find every bit of strength in her to maintain hope. Needless to say, when she saw Kai's body falling from the sky after the impact of P'Li's blast, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, and she had no hope.

She stopped in her tracks, forgetting about running to her safety. Tears pooled at the corners of her eyes. In that moment, she couldn't process the situation. She heard her voice yell his name. It was an instinct. She loved his name, always saying it whenever she had the chance. Maybe part of her expected that if she yelled loud enough, he would run back to her side like he always did when she called out to him. She eventually realized that wasn't going to happen. He wasn't going to run beside her and give her that fake, cheesy grin to let her know that everything would be fine even though she knew that he would be as scared as everyone else. She didn't need to pretend to believe him so that he wouldn't have to worry about making her feel better. He wouldn't protect her anymore, and she couldn't feel the comfort of him in her grasp. So she ran.

She hardly paid attention to her destination, simply following the crowd. Her legs moved almost as fast as the memories of what just happened raced through her head.

"What are you doing?"

_What _were _you doing?! _

"Whatever I can."

_Why are you so STUPID? We can't escape this! There's no point. I needed you, and you left. You said you wouldn't leave_.

Jinora escaped from her thoughts when everyone reached the bison stables, only to be greeted by emptiness. The explosions scared the bison away, leaving the airbenders at the mercy of P'Li.

_See? You should have just stayed with me. _

As Jinora sat with her hands bounded by chains alongside the other airbenders, she attempted to stay focused on finding a way to escape. However, their chances of getting help still seemed bleak as Jinora used her projection to obtain a visual of Korra. As the waiting game played out and she continued to think of plans to free everyone, Jinora still saw flashes of Kai in her mind. All of her happy memories were being clouded by the smoke of the explosion. The smiles, the laughter, the developed feelings – they all burned to ashes in front of her eyes. She felt like giving up, but that would only mean he made his sacrifice in vain. As much as it angered and hurt Jinora, Kai thought of her, her family, the new air nation, and everyone except himself when he made his decision. He embodied everything she loved about him in that moment, even if he broke her heart in the process, so she couldn't give up.

_We'll make it through this. For you if for nothing else. _

With Pema's help, Jinora used airbending to get the keys for their handcuffs in Opal's possession. As Opal started to remove her chains, the guard caught on to them, but not soon enough to avoid Chief Beifong and Asami. Relief rushed through Jinora as she saw her friends come to the rescue. The happy reunions filled Jinora with a feeling that told her everything would be alright. The feeling flourished when she saw _him. _He was standing among her friends, whole and alive and smiling.

"_Kai!_" She stood up and ran to him. "You're alive; I can't believe it!"

Jinora threw her arms around his neck and enveloped him in a hug that couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds, but she took that moment and cherished his scent, the way his messy hair tickled her cheek, his bony shoulder blades that pressed into her forearm, and his warmth that she felt as his body pressed against hers. She stepped back, still leaving her hands to rest on his shoulders for not being ready to let him go. He went on a Kai-esque spiel about how it would take a whole lot more to get rid of him. Jinora playfully punched his arm in response.

Once all was said and done, there was a great deal of damage. However, Korra survived, the new air nation still stood tall, the Red Lotus no longer held an immediate threat, and Jinora still had all of her loved ones by her side.

Kai introduced Jinora to Lefty, who immediately took a liking to her. He offered to let her ride with him back to the air temple, and Tenzin agreed at Jinora's pleading face. As they walked side by side to Lefty, Kai whispered to Jinora,

"_I told you I wouldn't leave._"

When they climbed upon Lefty, Jinora placed her arms around Kai's waist and rested her head on his back. He turned to look at her, and she quietly said, "Sorry, I'm kind of exhausted. It's been a tiring day."

"I know," he replied with a kind smile, "Lefty, _yip yip!_"

* * *

For the next few days, Jinora stayed close to Kai, almost never leaving his side. Their shoulders and hands often brushed against each other, and Jinora had to resist holding his hand on multiple occasions. One evening, Kai turned his head to speak to her during dinner, and his lips almost brushed against hers. They both moved their heads back and blushed as they looked at each other. Bolin and Bumi exchanged knowing looks, and Tenzin glared at Kai, causing Jinora to reluctantly scoot a few inches away.

Although Kai didn't mind spending his time with Jinora, he understood why she made the extra effort to stay so close. As they were walking to the dining hall one afternoon, Kai quickly left Jinora's side and stepped in front of her, resulting in her bumping into him. She looked at him with confusion.

"Jinora, I'm not going to disappear once you stop looking."

She laughed softly as she rubbed her arm and looked down at her feet, "I know. It was just scary, you know? I still can't believe I spent all that time thinking you were dead. It made me miss you, I guess."

"I missed you, too. I didn't know what happened to you guys when I woke up, and I wasn't sure if I distracted that explosion lady long enough. I was scared until I found out that you were okay." Kai tried to reach for pockets that weren't there and patted the sides of his legs when his hands didn't go where he wanted them to.

Jinora smiled nervously at him. "So, should we go get lunch now?"

Kai perked up and spoke more cheerfully, "Yeah! I'm starving."

When they started walking again, Kai noticed the extra space between them. It was a normal distance, but he grew accustomed to the feeling of lightly touching her arm with each movement. He almost felt lonely. Jinora's gaze still focused downwards, and she wasn't saying anything. To break the tension, he nudged her side with his body and closed the distance. She stumbled, but laughed and pushed him back.

* * *

**A/N: Hi everyone! This chapter was about the moment that broke all of our Kainora loving hearts. I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you to all of those who followed/favorited/reviewed. You guys are amazing!**


	7. It's Jinora

Preparing for Jinora's anointment ceremony made life around the temple hectic. It proved to be a much larger occasion than Kai had imagined, and people were coming from around the world to witness the occasion. Tenzin ensured that the airbenders were able to manipulate the ribbons of incense smoke in the correct formations, making them practice over a dozen times to make sure it was absolutely perfect. Although the airbenders felt annoyed by Tenzin's constant lecturing about the importance of the ceremony, everyone understood how much it meant to him and Jinora. Jinora would be the first anointed airbending master in a generation and the first female master in almost 200 years. During preparations on the morning of the ceremony, Kai caught a glimpse of Jinora in her robes, and she smiled nervously at him beneath her hood. He smiled back and gave her a thumbs up, his way of showing his happiness for her.

He realized he wanted to make her smile more than anything when he saw her cry for the first time.

* * *

"Kai!" Kai was playing with Lefty, and looked up to see Jinora hunched over and out of breath.

"Jinora? Are you okay?" He stood up, unsure of whether he should be prepared to catch her in case she collapsed.

"I'm getting my tattoos! I'm going to be a master!" She stood up straight now, beaming at him.

"It's about time. So your dad finally came around?"

"He said that he saw me stepping up as a master when I brought the airbenders together during the fight with the Red Lotus."

"Yeah, that was really amazing. So when are you getting them?"

"In a few days. To be honest, I'm a little scared."

Kai raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Why?"

"Well, they're _tattoos_.It's probably going to hurt a lot, and I'm going to be, you know, bald." She said the last word hesitantly.

"Hey, you're strong. I'm sure you'll be fine; and it's just hair. If you ask me, having tattoos is really cool, and it'll just grow back anyway."

"Actually, some airbenders keep their heads shaven. It helps with sensing your surroundings and everything." Jinora kept her eyes on Kai to see his reaction. She didn't know whether her father wanted her to keep that tradition or not. He seemed unfazed.

"Oh, well like I said, the tattoos will still look really cool. It's a small price to pay."

"I know," she said. "So I see that you and Lefty are getting along."

"Yeah! It's so great to have my own bison. You know, between you becoming a master and me getting Lefty, it kind of makes almost dying worth it." Kai meant it as a joke, and looked at Jinora expecting her to laugh along with him.

She stood with not even a hint of a smile on her face.

"What are you talking about?" She started to raise her voice and walked towards him.

"That wasn't funny! Do you know how scared I was when I saw you falling?"

She continued coming closer, causing Kai to move backwards until his back was against Lefty and Jinora was only inches away from his face. He's never seen Jinora this angry, and he didn't know she was capable of screaming at someone so harshly.

She stopped when she couldn't walk any further, and looked at him. Her expression changed from anger. All of her features became softer, and tears spilled from eyes and down her cheeks. She pulled him into a hug and buried her face into his neck.

"_Nothing_ is worth the feeling of thinking I lost you," she said, her voice still shaky from the tears.

Kai stood there for a moment before slowly bringing his arms around her waist, and when Jinora whispered an apology as soon as he touched her, he realized that this was the first time he's ever hugged her back. She thought that she made him uncomfortable, and he felt like an idiot. She's been nothing but accepting, caring, and compassionate, and he's been trying to fight against it like she was a stranger with some hidden agenda. He created a bridge so hard to cross that she thought hugging her inconvenienced him. He tightened his grip as he felt her tears continue to fall.

"I'm sorry. I won't joke about it again."

In that moment, everything became clear to Kai. Everything he's felt – the butterflies, the warmth that started in his cheeks and spread to his entire being, the trance he enters whenever he catches sight of her – they weren't just a preteen boy thing or some little crush; it was _Jinora_. She cares about him, and it's contagious because she's crying on his shoulder, and he can't bring himself to let her go until she feels better. Her smile lights up the world, and it quickly became his source of hope for something better, so he wants to keep it going for as long he can. She has the strength to push down the walls that were meant to shield himself, and now she's the person he wants to protect.

He felt like he needed to sit down after the realization came. A dam broke within him, and the feelings flowing through overwhelmed him. At this point, he held onto Jinora for support. When she pulled away from him, she looked into his eyes, and his heart pounded heavier than ever before. Small droplets still rested on her eyelashes, and his hand almost rose to wipe them away before she did herself. He couldn't think of anything to say for the first time in what felt like forever, so he stood there quietly until Lefty stood up and walked away. Kai had a small moment of panic, forgetting that he stood against the bison this entire time. Jinora laughed at the scene, and instead of feeling embarrassed about his clumsiness, Kai felt happy that it could at least put a smile on her face.

* * *

At the end of the ceremony, Jinora spent most of her time being whisked away and talked up by everyone in sight. Kai and the other airbenders sat in the main room eating and listening to Ikki and Meelo chatter endlessly about something. When Kai saw Jinora slip through the door, he immediately stood up and walked to her before someone else dragged her away again.

"So how does it feel being the most important person in the room, Master Jinora?" Kai said as he slipped into a place by her side.

"Overwhelming," she chuckled, "I'm not used to all the attention."

They walked through the room, and she told him about all of her encounters, including Lord Zuko's awkward attempt at praising her.

"So he made fun of the fact that you never met your grandfather?" Kai asked incredulously.

"Well, not exactly. He tried to say that I look a lot like my Grandpa Aang, but called him feminine so I wouldn't be insulted. Then when I disagreed, he asked how I would know. He has good intentions, but he's just not the best at social situations," she said while shaking her head, thinking about the moment again.

"He looks a lot scarier than he sounds."

As they made their way through the abundance of people, Kai heard some airbenders talking amongst themselves.

"You know, becoming a master sounds cool and everything, but I don't know how I'd feel about having to shave my head."

"I know what you mean. It'll look weird."

Kai looked over to Jinora, and her eyes focused downward with a frown making its way onto her face. Anger bubbled within him, and he wanted to say something to them. However, he knew better. They weren't talking about Jinora, not exactly anyway, and it would probably just embarrass her more. Instead, he slipped his hand into hers and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. She immediately blushed and lifted her chin, looking straight ahead before turning to him.

"You look great," he said, looking at her with a smile.

"Thanks," she said shyly.

"Hey, when you blush your ears turn red. I never noticed before." He meant it to be funny, but as Kai started to realize lately, that never turns out as he hopes.

"Um, I have to go," she said as her embarrassment got the better of her. When she tried to step away, he tightened the grip he had on her hand, and pulled her back.

"No, wait Jinora! I'm sorry!" he said, laughing as he lightly brought his arms around her shoulders after pulling her in.

Part of Kai wondered if he did too much too fast. They were all small steps, nothing more than what Jinora has done, but even he had to admit that it would be out of character for him. He's lived his life keeping distance, never getting too close. However, things change. People change. Kai knows he wants to be with Jinora as long as possible, so he'll open up and stop fighting her pull on him.

Jinora's eyes widened in surprise. For the first time, she was so flustered that she couldn't bring herself to lift her arms from her side. When she took a step back, his hands stayed on her arms, and the look on his face was the most endearing thing she's ever seen. The tilt of his head, his eye brows raised ever so slightly, and his signature lopsided smile all pulled together in hope of forgiveness. Jinora couldn't help but melt at the sight of him. She sighed and shook her head.

"Can we get some food? I'm starving."

"As you wish, _Master_."

This time as their hands brushed against each other, Jinora took the liberty of taking his in her grasp. She held his hand gently with hardly any grip, still feeling incredibly nervous. However, she knew that so much as an arm movement could free his hand, and the fact that he didn't pull away put her at ease.

* * *

**A/N: Hi you guys! I hope you liked this chapter. Not much to say. This is just when Kai starts to really recognize his feelings for Jinora, so from this point on he'll pretty much start putting in a bigger effort when it comes to her. Again, thank you for all of your support! The reviews/follows/favorites are so very much appreciated. **


	8. Decisions

Jinora got out bed and tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes. She felt a cool breeze over her head when Ikki ran past her to beat her to the bathroom, and she remembered that she didn't have her hair anymore. She looked in the mirror, not exactly upset with how she looked, but still missing how she looked before. She still wondered whether she would grow it back out or not.

She found her father before meditation started, and he looked at her fondly.

"Good morning Jinora. Are you ready to lead the group today?"

"Yes daddy, but I wanted to ask you something," she fiddled with her hands and quickly said the words, "Am I supposed to keep my head shaven, or do I grow my hair back out?"

Tenzin stayed silent for a moment before answering her question, "Well Jinora, like I've told the other airbenders, it's a personal choice."

"But what do you think I should do?"

"Jinora, you're an airbending master now. You're going to have a lot of responsibility and face many situations that will require your judgement, so a decision as simple as this is something you should be able to make on your own."

"I can decide that you're no help," she murmured with her arms crossed as he walked away.

She arrived in the meditation pavilion before everyone else, and as the airbenders walked in they greeted her and bowed their heads in respect. "Good morning, Master Jinora," they would all say. It felt strange. They hardly ever behaved that way with her father, but she also knew the airbenders took a liking to her more due to her patience and kind nature. She just hoped people wouldn't treat her too differently. She felt grateful for the respect, but she's still the same Jinora. She remembered reading about her Grandpa Aang feeling left out when his friends found out about him being the Avatar. Would being a master cause for her to be alone?

Kai walked in and sat down, still rubbing his eyes and trying to shake off his tiredness. Jinora looked at him and chuckled, wondering if he would ever get used to waking up early. He looked at her and waved slightly before dropping his head and dozing off. Ikki ran to Jinora and told her about how she should start being tougher on everyone since they have to listen to her now, and as she provided plans to push the airbenders, Jinora swore she saw an evil gleam in her eyes. When Jinora scolded Meelo after he went on an air scooter rampage through the pavilion, he screamed that he couldn't be stopped. Opal arrived as her usual calm self and simply gave her a sympathetic smile before sitting down after witnessing the chaos of her siblings.

_At least some_ _people will always treat me the same_.

Jinora stood up and walked to Opal after Ikki stopped talking.

"Hey Opal, can you give me some advice?"

"Sure Jinora, what is it?" Opal briefly looked over to Kai, assuming it would be about boy troubles. She appreciated having someone to think of as a younger sister, and it excited her that Jinora would want to open up to her about something of that nature.

"Well, I was wondering whether I should grow my hair out or not. I'm not sure what I should do."

Opal looked at her, not expecting the topic.

"Oh. Well, I just assumed that you would grow it back out, but now that you bring it up, I'm not sure. I'm not an expert on air nomad culture, but I do know that you should do whatever makes you happy," Opal said as she smiled warmly at her.

"Okay, thanks." Jinora walked back to her original spot to start the meditation session, and Opal thought that she should work on her big sister skills after seeing Jinora's defeated look.

For the rest of the day, Jinora went around the temple asking for advice. However, time and time again, everyone gave essentially the same response. She could do whatever she wanted. Jinora just wanted a straight answer. Everyone had to have an opinion; they just wanted to be considerate, and it became annoying. It turned out that she did have to make this decision on her own.

* * *

"Hey Jinora. Whatcha doing?" said Kai as he looked over her shoulder to see her jotting down something on a notepad.

"Making a decision." Jinora sat under a tree with a pen in hand and a look of pure concentration directed at the paper.

"About what?" He sat down and leaned towards her to get a better look at her writing.

"About whether to grow my hair out or not. I can't decide, and no one else is helping, so I'm making a pro/con list."

"Wow, a list. Those are usually for serious stuff, like what food you need to buy at the market."

"Ha ha, very funny," she said, still looking intently at the notepad.

"So what do you have so far?"

"Well, as a pro for keeping my head shaven, I can sense my surroundings better."

"That can come in handy."

"I can also show off my tattoos more, which is important for a master, I guess. Apparently I look like my grandpa Aang, which is pretty cool. It's also a tradition for airbenders to have their heads shaven."

"Your eyes look pretty," said Kai. Jinora paused and looked at him.

"What?"

"Your eyes. Without your hair, they look bigger…which is nice." His confidence faltered the longer she watched him.

"Oh, thank you," she said, not sure how to respond. It did make her feel better that Kai liked how she looked. His opinion meant a lot to her.

"What about the cons? Why do you want to grow your back out?" He asked.

"I like how I look with my hair. I've had it as long as I can remember."

"And?" Kai looked at her, smiling at the fact that he could tell which side was easier to argue.

"Um…my hair can keep me warm during the winter."

Kai started laughing at her, and she shot him a glare.

"Hey, that's a valid concern," she defended.

"I'm sure it is, but can't airbenders regulate their temperature?"

"Well, yes."

"I can see why you needed a list."

Jinora started to feel upset with herself. Kai was right. There wasn't much to think about, so why did she have such a difficult time making a choice?

"Kai?"

"Yes?"

"What do you think?" She realized that he's the only one she hasn't asked yet. He's her best friend, and she trusted him.

"About your hair?"

"Yes. Should I keep my head shaven?"

Kai looked down in thought. She obviously cared about it a lot, and it bothered her. What if he made the wrong decision? What if she didn't like his answer? What _was _his answer? She looked amazing either way. However, he missed the way her hair reflected the sunlight and flowed in the wind; but her eyes did look beautiful, and she couldn't hide behind her bangs anymore. Then he thought back to when they were stuck in the cave and remembered the droplets of water dripping from the ends of her hair, and how it made him get lost in thought about how his feelings were growing for her. Then again, that pros and cons list…

"Well, even though I think you look great either way, and it's completely up to you," When Kai paused for a moment before continuing, Jinora raised an eyebrow in annoyance at him, "I do like your hair." He rubbed the back of his neck and spoke the words hesitantly, afraid of somehow upsetting her.

Jinora smiled at him and replied, "Okay. I'll grow my hair out."

"Really? That's it?"

"Yup. I just wanted an answer from someone. Thank you, Kai."

"Are you sure you just wanted an answer? Or were you waiting for someone to tell you the answer you wanted so you wouldn't feel bad about betraying your list?" Kai said with an amused expression.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. My list agrees with me one hundred percent."

"Of course it does. I'm sure you'll have a very warm winter."

Jinora pushed his shoulder, causing him to fall back and catch himself with his arms.

"_Shut up._"

"Hey! What about your oath of nonaggression? That was pretty aggressive if you ask me."

"It's not very respectful to tease a master. I would tell you to go meditate about your actions, but you would end up falling asleep. I had no other choice."

"Fine. I'm sorry."

"You need to apologize to my list, too."

"_Jinora._"

"It's waiting." She handed him her notepad and crossed her arms, trying to stifle a laugh so it wouldn't ruin her serious façade.

Kai took the notepad from her and looked at it. He noticed how her handwriting made the words look prettier than they usually would in a book. The letters were small and curled, but very neat. They somehow matched her personality in a way he couldn't explain. He sighed and began to speak.

"I'm sorry, list…that you couldn't be put to better use, like for the food we'll eventually eat."

With that, he stood up and ran with the notepad still in hand.

"Kai! Get back here!" Jinora yelled before bolting after him.

* * *

**A/N: Hi everyone! Here's a cute chapter of these little sweethearts. Thank you for your reviews/favorites/follows. I always appreciate them so much, and it makes me really happy that you all like this story. I'll see you guys with the next update! **


	9. Secrets

"I'm on to you."

Kai looked down to see Ikki standing beside him with her hands on her hips and a smug grin on her face. He gave her a questioning look before responding.

"About what?" He hasn't gotten into any trouble lately, at least as far as he knew.

"About Jinora. I see the way you look at her. You liiiike her!" Kai felt a sudden surge of fear and looked around to make sure no one could hear her. He bent down to meet her face, hoping to look intimidating.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"So what is it about her that drives you crazy? Her laugh? Her eyes? The way she looks like a pretty butterfly when she floats through the airbending movements?" She spoke at a mile a minute and pranced around to illustrate her points.

_Well, yes._

"Don't you have somewhere you need to be?" He asked with annoyance in his voice.

"I do, actually. Bye!" Kai watched as she ran off and wondered how much trouble she would end up giving him now. He knew she didn't have the best reputation for keeping information to herself, and she always searched for a new source of drama to keep things interesting.

_Am I really that obvious?_

"Is she giving you trouble?" Kai turned around to see Jinora standing behind him. Nerves came over him as he wondered about how long she stood there.

_Oh Raava, did she hear what Ikki said? _

"Oh, um, no. Well, yes. You know, not any more than usual."

Jinora gave him a questioning look. His unsteady stance and increased speaking pace deviated from his usual nonchalant attitude, but she ended up letting it go.

"So do you want to go play with the bison?"

"Sure, but don't you usually help that guy with his airbending around now?"

"Chen? He hasn't asked for help lately, and he's suddenly doing better in training. I wonder why." She said the words with a tinge of sarcasm, and her expression was mixture of annoyance and sadness.

"Maybe you're just a great teacher, and you taught him all he needed to know to catch up with everyone else."

She gave him a small smile, "Yeah, maybe."

"Do you care? I thought you didn't like helping him."

_Does she like him?_

"No, I don't care. It's just feels kind of strange."

"What feels strange?"

"Well, I didn't like him. He was kind of a jerk, as bad as that sounds, but he's the one who stopped wanting to be around me. You know, all my life I've just been surrounded by my family, so I haven't had to deal with people judging me by my looks."

"You don't know if that's the reason why he doesn't want lessons anymore," he said, hurt that she would think that way. He knew she felt insecure without her hair, but he didn't see a reason why anyone should look at her differently. She's still Jinora, and that's all that should matter.

"I guess not, but the alternative of not being liked as a person isn't that great either."

"Hey, I like you. Doesn't that count for anything?"

"Of course it does. I'd much rather have you take up my time," she said with a laugh.

"And I think you're pretty, too." He didn't look at her in fear of losing his calm image. His heart started thumping whenever he paid her a compliment. As strong as his feelings were for Jinora, he cared about their friendship more than anything. He didn't want to scare her off or ruin anything because of bad timing. They were only kids, after all.

Her cheeks flushed red, and she smiled shyly at the comment.

"So what's with all the compliments lately? Trying to suck up to me now that I'm a master?"

"Hey, what do you mean by that? I've complimented you before," he said defensively.

"You've never called me _pretty_ before," she teased, but there was a hint of sincerity hidden in the midst of her words as well.

Kai looked at her and weighed his options of how to reply. He always noticed that she was pretty; there was no doubt about that. He remembered her rosy cheeks and sweet smile as the first thing that caught his attention when she introduced herself, and a fluttering feeling in his stomach accompanied the memory. He took her appearance in once again as she stood in front of him, and it just reaffirmed how amazing she looked to him, but her eyes still held insecurities.

He turned away and linked his hands at the nape of his neck before starting to walk.

"You never seemed like you doubted it before."

Jinora's eyes followed him, and she bit her lip as she thought about his words. She ran to catch up to him and stayed silent after she made it to her place by his side.

They continued walking to the bison stables when Kai noticed a small figure in the corner of his eye.

"Hey you guys! Where are you going?" Ikki said after she popped up beside Jinora.

"To go see the bison," Jinora replied.

"Ooh, sounds like fun! Can I come, too? Please!" She grabbed onto Jinora's arm as she pleaded.

"I guess so," she said before giving Kai a silent apology.

Ikki looked over to Kai and gave him a mischievous smile, which he returned with a glare. They continued their staring contest for a few moments before Ikki spoke up.

"So Jinora, did you know that Kai – "

"Jinora!" Kai shouted to interrupt Ikki so he could stop her from creating the most awkward situation he could imagine, but it simply left him having to face a shocked Jinora without having anything to say.

"Um…so what do you think you would name your bison when you get one?" It was the only thing he could think of at the moment.

She looked at him with suspicion, unsure of the reason behind his sudden outburst. "Well, I guess it would depend on the bison," she said as she watched him carefully, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just didn't want to forget the question is all."

"Ahuh," she replied skeptically.

"I know what I want to name my bison when I get one! Her name will be Princess Buttercup," Ikki said excitedly.

Jinora laughed at her little sister. She had to admit that she was pretty cute sometimes.

"But Ikki, what if your bison is a boy?"

"That won't happen. Princess Buttercup and I will have tea parties all the time, and we'll talk about _everything_ – especially gossip. It's so hard keeping everything to myself."

"And what type of gossip could you possibly have?" Jinora asked.

"You know, who really cares about that stuff anyway?" Kai interjected.

"Apparently Jinora. So she'll be really interested to hear that you –"

"We came here to play with the bison, right? So that's what we should be doing," he said hurriedly.

"Okay, what's going on with you two?" Jinora said, now fed up with their feuding.

"Nothing!" Kai said, looking at her with worry on his face.

"KAI DOESN'T WANT YOU KNOW THAT HE –"

"_Ikki!_" Ikki stopped talking at the sound of Jinora yelling at her. She's always annoyed Jinora, but it was rare to see her genuinely mad. She saw her sister looking at her sternly, and couldn't find the words to talk back or finish her sentence.

"If Kai doesn't want me or anyone else to know something, then it's not your place to put his business out there. I don't care what it is, so stop holding whatever _it_ is over his head."

Ikki suddenly looked shy and smaller. She looked down at her fidgeting hands, "I'm sorry."

Kai wasn't exactly sure what to make of the situation. Even though Ikki annoyed him, he couldn't help but feel bad when looking at how sad she was. She obviously cared a lot about what Jinora had to say, even though it usually didn't seem like it. Part of Kai felt like it was his fault since she wouldn't have anything to hold over him if he didn't keep his feelings from Jinora, or at least if he wasn't so obvious that he had feelings for her. However, within seconds the anger melted from Jinora's face, and she walked to Ikki and placed her hands on her shoulders.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you, Ikki. Just be more sensitive towards other people, okay? Kai was obviously uncomfortable with me knowing about what you were going to say, so you should respect that."

"Okay. I'm sorry, Kai," she said, now looking towards the boy.

"Uh, it's okay," he replied as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Can we go play with the bison now?" Ikki said, now more cheerful and looking up at Jinora hopefully.

"Sure."

Ikki ran ahead out of excitement, leaving Kai and Jinora behind.

"I'm sorry about her," Jinora told Kai apologetically.

"No, it's probably my fault for giving her a reason to mess with me."

"So, you have a secret?"

He took a moment to think before replying to her.

"Sort of, I guess. But not really." It wasn't a lie. If she found out on her own, he wouldn't mind. He just doesn't want his feelings to be used by someone as a game.

"Oh."

"It's not anything bad, if that's what you're thinking."

"No, it's not that. It's nothing. Like I told Ikki, I don't want to know if you don't want me to know."

"It's bothering you, isn't it?" he said after another awkward silence.

"A little," she responded with a sheepish smile.

"Well, I'm sure you'll get over it eventually."

"I'm not sure about that. I think about things a lot, so I'll probably imagine everything that it could possibly be and end up convincing myself that those things are true. You'll become a completely different person in my mind."

"You would really let that happen?" He said, faking a hurt expression.

"So is this like another deep, dark secret? Are you a spy? Or are you some kind of mastermind?"

"_No_," he said with a laugh, "I told you it wasn't bad."

Jinora placed an index finger on her chin and looked up in thought. "A mastermind isn't so bad, as long as you use your abilities for good."

"I guess so, but I'm not a mastermind."

"That's too bad. So what, do you have a crush on someone?" She knew she wanted to be the person who knew everything about him, but she didn't know if she wanted the answer to this particular question. It came out of her mouth, regardless.

_What if he likes someone else?_

His gaze stayed on her longer than usual, and she could see him losing his resolve.

_What if he likes me?_

"Are you guys coming?" Ikki yelled from the back of a baby bison.

"We should go before she tires them all out," Kai said, and when Jinora still stood there looking at him as he turned away, he grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him.

_I hope he does._

* * *

**A/N: Hello everyone! Long time no see. I apologize for it being a bit longer than usual since my last update. I started my summer semester recently, so I'm having less time to write. Just sit tight and know that updates will be coming slowly but surely. I'm planning on writing something a little deeper for the next chapter, and I'm trying to decide how to lay everything out, so it may take longer for me to finish. Thank you again for all of your continued support. I really love it when you guys favorite/follow/review! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	10. Nightmares

Jinora always had somewhat of a mysterious air about her. She kept to herself more often than not, differing a great deal from her siblings. Whether through meditation, her books, or even her own thoughts, she always seemed to be absorbed within another world. It mostly went unnoticed since Ikki and Meelo usually overshadowed her, and it never concerned anyone. With her father being a councilman and her mother always having something to tend to around the temple, having a child with Jinora's character was a blessing. Studious, intelligent, responsible, mature, calm, caring – she was a near perfect daughter. If it weren't for the occasional fights and games with her siblings, it would be easy to forget her young age of only 11 years old.

"Hey." Kai's voice made Jinora rip her attention from her book.

"Hey Kai."

He sat down beside her quietly for a few moments as he observed her. Jinora gave him a questioning look and turned towards him, waiting for him to say something.

"Are you doing okay?" His eyes held concern, and it caught Jinora off guard.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. You seemed kind of out of it today."

Jinora knew what he meant. She could hardly focus during meditation, which bothered her more than anything. Usually, she had the ability to push everything from her mind when she meditated, but today she couldn't clear her head. An image wouldn't stop lingering in her mind.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just had a rough night," she said as she returned to leaning her back against a tree.

"You couldn't sleep?"

"Sort of. I had a bad dream, and it just bothered me a little." She shifted her attention back to reading, now only giving a portion of her attention to the conversation. Kai took it as a sign that something was wrong. He could never imagine Jinora ignoring him, or anyone for that matter.

"What was it about?" He said, deciding to pry further.

He saw her messing with the page corners – a habit she had when lost in thought. Kai couldn't decide whether he thought she couldn't remember, or if she tried to think of a lie to tell him.

"It's not important. I can hardly remember it, anyway." She never took her eyes from the pages, and she spoke the words with disinterest in her voice.

"It's probably important if it's bothering you, Jinora."

"I think that's something I can decide for myself," she said harshly as she tightened her grip on the covers.

Kai stiffened, not exactly sure what step to take. He never expected a response like that from her, but it only reaffirmed that whatever was on her mind had to be serious. He considered just apologizing and coming back later, but decided against it when he realized that if he was in her place, she wouldn't leave his side until he talked to her about it, whether he wanted her to or not.

"I-I'm sorry." He mentally hit himself for stuttering. He didn't have any experience in making people open up to him; he's spent most of his life trying to avoid it, actually. He scooted closer to her side and looked up to the sky, contemplating his next move. As he did this, he could feel Jinora shift beside him. When he turned his head towards her, he saw the book laying closed in her lap where her eyes still stayed focused.

"I didn't mean to be to be so…mean." Her expression became filled with even more discomfort, and Kai panicked slightly. He had no idea what he was doing, and it seemed as if his presence only made her feel worse.

"I know. I mean, it's fine. I didn't mean to make you mad."

Jinora finally looked at him, and Kai found comfort in the small smile that made its way to her lips. "You didn't make me mad. I'm just used to keeping these things to myself."

"That sounds like something I would say."

A small laugh escaped from her mouth, and she nudged him playfully. "I guess we're not completely different then, are we?"

"I wouldn't really say that's a good thing, though."

The little bit of cheerfulness that was restored to her demeanor disappeared.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not used to talking about things because I tried to distance myself from people. I only started opening up because I found people I cared about," he smiled at her before he continued, "Because I met you."

The warmth that she felt in her chest reached Jinora's face as a light blush dusted her cheeks. She looked at him and realized how little of his veil she saw lately, and she never thought about her being the reason behind it. It made her happy that Kai thought of her as someone he cared about, because caring about each other is something else they had in common, and _that_ was a good thing. She looked at him fondly, and nerves came over her once she decided to tell him what exactly it was that bothered her. She brought her knees to her chest and stared at her twiddling thumbs.

"I had a dream about you getting shot out of the sky. I woke up, and it took me a while to convince myself that you were okay. Seeing you this morning helped, but I haven't been able to get the image out of my head."

She waited for him to say something, expecting him to confirm how stupid it was.

_Oh, that's all? _

_That's not a big deal._

_It happened over two months ago; you haven't forgotten about it yet?_

She braced herself for the words, but instead felt an arm wrap firmly around her shoulders.

"Sometimes I have dreams about when I was in the Dai Li camp, or the nights when I was out on the streets and didn't have a place to stay. I knew it was my fault that I was in those situations, but it scared me to think that someone could hurt me whenever they wanted." He looked down, feeling his heartbeat quicken. This was the first time he's mentioned it. He never liked telling people when things bothered him because he grew up thinking that he had to show the world he could handle whatever circumstances life threw at him. However, he knew that if there was one person who knew these things about him, he would want it to be Jinora. If it made her feel better, then that would make it all the more worth it.

"Those things weren't your fault, Kai." Jinora looked sympathetically at him. She couldn't wrap her head around the fact that he blamed himself for what happened to him.

He smiled solemnly to himself and continued without responding to her. "It can be hard when you want to forget about things, but you keep on being reminded of it by something you can't control."

_What else does he blame himself for? _Jinora wondered after he didn't acknowledge her words. She could feel him absentmindedly tugging her closer to him as he talked, and she thought that maybe this was his way of looking for comfort while trying to provide it to her at the same time. Then she realized that this wasn't something he was used to. He's used to pushing people away. No one really knew him, what he went through, how he feels.

"Sometimes I feel like it's easier to not tell anyone about these things, but other times it makes it a lot harder to deal with," she said as she leaned closer to him.

"Why do you keep it to yourself if it bothers you so much? I'm sure you have a lot of people who are willing to listen."

"I guess so, but it never really feels like a good time. Everyone is so busy, and they have their own things to deal with. There's always so much going on, so there never seems to be a point in bringing up these things, you know? It's all in my head anyway; it's not real."

"I'm never that busy."

"Oh, well –"

"You can talk to me whenever something's bothering you, whether it's a dream or anything else. I may not have the best advice since I'm not really good at that stuff, but I can always listen," he offered.

She smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you, Kai," Her lips brushed against his cheek before she wrapped her arms around his waist, "And you can talk to me about anything, okay?"

"Okay," he smiled as he rested his head against hers. While they sat there, Kai couldn't help but feel a tad bit guilty. He felt bad that Jinora was having nightmares about him; he really did, but it also felt nice that she cared about him enough to be afraid of losing him.

From then on, Jinora told Kai about her most haunting memories. The experiences of being kidnapped by the Equalists, being in the fog of lost souls, and having a person bargain with her soul all stayed with her when she acted like it was just another page she turned in her life. At first, she was always hesitant, trying to find the best way to start a conversation and changing her mind when she couldn't find the right words, but it got better with time. When Kai listened to her, he couldn't help but be amazed by everything she's been through, and he'd never admired anyone more in his life.

With each conversation they had, he came a little closer to letting her get a glimpse of his fears, insecurities, and memories. He preferred to stay the way he's always been – happy and without a care. That image didn't mesh well with his fear of rejection or the multiple regrets he had along the way of his life on the streets. However, he knew that if Jinora trusted him enough to open up to him, he would get there eventually.

* * *

**A/N: Hello everyone! I'm so sorry for the long wait. Classes are taking up a lot of my time. Just so you know, I'm not just forgetting about this story. I try to write at least a few sentences or edit some things everyday, so the slow pace is what's making me take so long. I know it doesn't really make that much of a difference to you, but I'm telling you anyway. I tried to give this chapter a more serious topic to show the steps Kai and Jinora took to trust each other more. I love the idea of Jinora thinking of Kai as her person and vice versa, so they find a lot of comfort in each other. As always, I really appreciate you guys, and thank you so much for the favorites/follows/reviews. They mean so much to me, and I hope to hear some more of your feedback!**


	11. Obvious

After a long training session, Kai decided to walk off the big lunch he rewarded himself with. As he took his stroll through the island, he caught sight of Jinora practicing with other airbenders, and he stopped in his tracks to continue watching her. She laughed gleefully as she worked with everyone to move the air around them – that is until someone raced by on an air scooter. The sudden, strong gust of wind threw everyone off, but Jinora seemed more distraught than the others. Everyone took a break to straighten out their disheveled clothing, and Jinora held a look of despair as she tried to restore her hair back to any resemblance of normal. She looked forward to her hair growing back, but now she could hardly stand how unmanageable it was. The short curls that sat on her head refused to listen to her constant pleas of staying in place without her putting half an hour of effort into it.

Kai watched Jinora's restless attempts of smoothing out her hair and smiled at her pouting face. Sure, it caused trouble for her, but she looked so darn cute. He probably couldn't get away with watching her deal with it up close without her punching him in the shoulder and walking away. He enjoyed observing her, but his admiration of Jinora's adorableness was interrupted by a large figure bumping into him.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Mako yelled after stumbling.

"What do you mean watch where _I'm _going? I was just standing here," Kai defended.

The firebender looked at him and retorted, "What are you doing just standing around here anyway? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"I could ask you the same question," he mumbled under his breath.

Mako placed a hand over Kai's head and bent down so they were eye to eye. "What's going on with you?"

The two had been getting along better ever since the fight with the Red Lotus, but that didn't mean Mako would put up with the kid's sass. He didn't have the patience to put up with things like that. Kai attempted to look away, which only led to Mako redirecting his head.

"Nothing. I'm literally doing nothing. What problem could you possibly have with that?"

The sound of a groan made Kai turn his attention away once again, and he saw Jinora finally giving up and ruffling her hair in exasperation, recognizing that there was no point in trying to tame it. A smile made its way to his face, and he let out a small laugh, forgetting that he wasn't alone.

Mako followed Kai's line of sight and raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you watching Jinora?"

His face reddened, but he became defensive again as he crossed his arms and looked to the ground.

"No."

"Why are watching her all the way from here? I thought you guys were friends. You didn't make her mad, did you?"

"_No!_ I like her, okay? And I don't need to hear about how it's _so_ obvious. I know, and I don't care. Just leave me alone already!" His face grew even redder from anger and embarrassment.

Mako stood still with surprise written into his features. "Woah, calm down. I didn't mean to uncover your little crush."

Kai relaxed and immediately realized that he made a mistake. Maybe the Air Temple was making him soft; he would have never slipped up like that on the streets.

"Oh," he said meekly as he looked back down to his shoes.

"Yeah," Mako replied, running a hand through his hair and looking away.

"Sorry for exploding like that."

"Uh, it's okay." He started walking away, but turned around once more, "And you're not that obvious. I mean, I couldn't tell that you liked her until you screamed it in my face, and I'm a detective, so I'm good at picking up on that kind of stuff." He said with a proud smile and cool tone to his voice.

Kai returned his comment with a skeptical look as a small smirk played on his lips, "Sure, whatever you say."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing."

"You're notobvious. At all."

"Good."

With that, Kai went on his way, leaving Mako behind with a slightly hurt ego. He decided to make an attempt of clearing his head by taking a trip to the temple's library, but on his way there he found some company.

"Hey Bro," Bolin said as he walked towards Mako, looking chipper as usual.

"Oh, hey Bolin."

"You okay? You look like you have something on your mind. Well, besides the usual things." The look on Mako's face screamed that something was bothering him. He had the same stern expression, but Bolin could see through his tough persona with ease.

"It's just something stupid. I was talking to Kai, and he always likes to give me trouble," Mako said with annoyance in his voice.

"You should really stop being so hard on him. He's a good kid! Even you have to admit that."

"Yeah, sure. Speaking of Kai, do you think he has a thing for Jinora?"

"Oh, yeah! He's crazy about her, and how cute are they together? Young love is so amazing."

Trying to push past the stars that appeared in Bolin's eyes as he spoke about the young airbenders, Mako continued.

"So he told you about his crush on her?"

"Nah, he'd be way too embarrassed, but it's so obvious. The way he trips over his feet and stutters whenever he's around her, and the way he blushes whenever she smiles at him – it all screams LOVE." Bolin explained in a sing-song voice.

"But it's not _that_ obvious."

"Of course it is!"

"No it's not."

"What are you talking about? I know you can be kind of oblivious to these things, but come on," Bolin said as he placed a hand on his brother's back.

"_I am not oblivious! I'm a detective!"_ Mako's lost temper made him go red in the face, which only made Bolin more amused.

"Whatever you say, bro."

"_What do you mean by that?!"_

"I'll see you later. I promised Pema I would help her with dinner."

"Ah, of course he would notice. The only thing the guy ever puts effort into is trying to get a girl," he grumbled once Bolin was out of sight.

He managed to get the whole thing out of his head once he got to the library. There was no reason for him to be bothered by it anyway. They're just some kids, and he has much more important things to tend to besides noticing their crushes. Yeah, that's right. He didn't figure it out on his own because there was no reason for him to. Surely if he needed to find out about it, he could. He just didn't have to. While navigating through the maze of shelves and skimming the spines of the books, he nearly knocked over Opal as she stood with her nose stuck in a novel.

"Oh, sorry. I wasn't paying attention," he said with a panicked tone.

She smiled and waved him off. "No, no. It's fine. I shouldn't have been taking up the whole aisle. So what brings you here?"

"Just looking for something to read."

"Obviously," she chuckled as she gestured to her surroundings.

Boy, was he starting to hate that word.

"Yeah," he said after letting out an awkward laugh. He looked back to her and saw that Opal went back to looking through the pages of the book in her hands. He never realized how much she kept to herself when Bolin wasn't trying to talk to her. She probably didn't have much interest in the things going on around the temple, or the things going on with other people that didn't really concern her.

"Hey, Opal?" He asked, looking at her with interest.

"Yes?"

"You know Kai, right?"

* * *

As the sun started to set, Jinora and Kai took some time to relax before they had to retire to bed. They paid Lefty a visit because, as Kai pointed out, sky bison fur is a lot softer than grass. He was large enough now that they could both fit comfortably on his back, and Lefty always enjoyed the company since he got twice the attention when the two were together.

"Ugh, I'm almost tempted to shave all my hair off again," said Jinora, becoming frustrated with her hair for what seemed, to her, like the hundredth time.

"Come on, you've made so much progress. It's not even bad. Are you that annoyed that one part of you isn't perfect?"

"Maybe," she mumbled, which caused Kai to laugh at her for what also seemed like the hundredth time.

"Well, it's about time you deal with the experience of having messy hair."

"Hey, that's not fair. It looks good on you," she said, pouting once again.

Kai's face flushed, and he smiled reassuringly at her. "It looks good on you, too."

She looked at him as a small smile formed on her face. She thanked him quietly, and it made him happy that a few words from him could make her feel better. He allowed himself to fall back on Lefty with his arms outstretched as he looked up at the clouds, but his moment of relaxation ended abruptly when he heard people whispering from below. He turned over and saw that not too far off, there were a few airbenders standing closely in a group.

"_I don't know what that guy was talking about; it looks like he has a crush on her to me."_

"_Yeah, I never see him acting that nice to anyone else."_

"_Are you sure they're not dating?"_

"_I don't think so. That police guy said something about a crush."_

Kai couldn't believe what he was hearing. He head shot around to see if Jinora heard anything, but the panic he felt most likely showed on his face because the only thing she did was give him a questioning look.

"What's wrong?"

"Uhhh…" He looked over his shoulder, and it seemed that the group took notice of the fact that he caught sight of them, because they hushed their whispers and started to turn away.

"Is someone over there?" she asked, starting to shift closer to him so she could see what caught his attention.

He stopped her by placing his hands on her shoulders. "No. I just remembered that I had to do something. I'll see you later Jinora!" He swiftly jumped off of Lefty, leaving Jinora behind. She hopped off as well, about to run after him to see what he needed to leave so suddenly for, but she was stopped by a gentle roar. She turned around to be met by Lefty nudging her with his nose, and she stayed behind a bit longer to pet him some more.

Kai, however, was on a mission to find a certain detective. He felt as if everyone's eyes were on him, and as he made his way around the island, a handful of people asked him if he was looking for Jinora while giving him knowing looks. With each person that came up to him, he got more anxious, and he also got angrier. When he finally found him, you could practically see the steam coming out of his ears.

"What. Did. You. Do?" He said through gritted teeth with his fists balled at his sides.

Mako looked down at him, and the fact that he didn't seem to have even an ounce of guilt on his face made Kai even more annoyed.

"What are you talking about?"

"_Why is everyone around the temple talking about me and Jinora?_"

"Oh, that. I don't know why you think I'm the one to come to about that."

"Unlike you, _I_ know how to find something out when everything points to it, and it's pretty obvious that this all started happening right after you found out I liked Jinora and got your feelings hurt that you couldn't figure it out by yourself, Mr. Detective."

"Woah, no need to be so harsh," Mako said with his hands held up in front of him in a defensive gesture, "and you didn't hurt my feelings."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Well, I was trying to see if it was actually that obvious. You know, so I could tell you if you needed to get better at hiding it. It was all in your best interest, really," he said, not able to maintain eye contact at this point, "The verdict was about half and half."

"Half of _what_?"

"The airbenders," he mumbled sheepishly.

"_All of them?!"_

"It's not like I asked every single person around here about your little crush, but you know how information travels."

"Apparently," Kai said angrily, now looking away with his arms crossed.

"Okay, I apologize. Are you happy now?"

"_No!_" Kai screamed incredulously. "What am I going to do now? Everyone is going to talk about it and Jinora is going to hear them and she's going to act all weird around me, because of you!" The words came out rushed, and Mako was unsure of how to respond. Suddenly, he got an idea.

"Don't be so quick to get mad. Have you thought about Jinora liking you back? Maybe this will make things move quicker," he said with a triumphant smile, now feeling satisfied with himself.

"But it's not your place to make that happen!"

_Geez, tough kid, _Mako thought.

"Well, um, I'm going to go. Good luck with everything." Mako said as he walked away, now just wanting to get out of this whole situation.

Kai watched as he left, and he buried his face in his hands while letting out a loud groan. Now, all he could hope for was this blowing over before anyone had the chance to ruin his friendship with Jinora.

Or maybe he could hope that Jinora would find out about his feelings and tell him that she feels the same way, but that seemed a little too far-fetched for the time being.

* * *

**A/N: Hi everyone! This chapter was requested by guest reviewer musiclover, so here you go! I had a lot of fun writing this, so I really hope you like it. I have a rough outline of the bigger moments I want to include in this story, but most of the chapters in between are everyday life stories with moments showing their feelings slowly developing (as you can probably tell by now), so I'm very open to your requests of moments you would like to see, especially since sometimes I can get a little low on inspiration. If it's something that would take place when they're older, I can put it aside until I get to that part of the timeline. Also, it will be a no promises kinda thing. I'll try my best to fit something in, but if I don't see it happening for whatever reason, then I apologize in advance. Thank you so much for the follows/favorites/reviews because seeing that you guys are enjoying this story means the world to me! I'll see you with the next update!**


	12. Birthdays

Birthdays were never an occasion that Kai was fond of. Growing up in orphanages between his times on the streets, they just seemed like pathetic attempts to make people feel better about wasting another year in a dreary existence. Birthdays were good for telling how old you were, but they were far from being something that needed to be celebrated, in his opinion. However, they did make some kids happy, especially the younger ones. He did suppose they probably meant a lot to people who had pretty good lives as well, which is why he felt terrible when he didn't do anything for Jinora's 12th birthday when it came by a year ago. It was only a few months after they met, and he didn't know about it until the day of since she never thought to mention it.

* * *

"_Don't worry about it; it's nothing special," said Jinora._

"_I'm pretty sure it is."_

"_It's not; I promise. My parents usually get me something small, and my mom makes my favorite dessert to have after dinner. We don't make a big deal about birthdays over here, so please don't feel bad," she pleaded, trying to alleviate the dejected look on Kai's face. _

"_Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday today? You could have at least given me a day's notice."_

"_I didn't think you would want to know," she said as she looked down. She wasn't used to telling people about her birthday. The people who did things for her or gave her birthday wishes always just _knew_. _

"_Jinora, you're my best friend. Yours is the only one I've ever cared about," he said frantically, trying to show her that he really did care._

_Her cheeks flushed, and she smiled softly at him. "I'm sorry, but if it makes you feel better, I think you saying that is a pretty good birthday present." She put her arms around his shoulders in attempts to cheer him up, but he stood with his arms still to his sides. _

"_I don't think it is," he pouted._

"_Well, I'm the birthday girl, so whatever I say goes."_

"_I'll do something next year."_

"_If you don't forget," she mumbled jokingly._

"_I won't!" he yelled defensively. _

"_We'll see," she giggled._

* * *

So this year, he did remember. He racked his brain for weeks trying to think of what to get her. He didn't have the money to buy her anything, and even if he did, he knew her well enough to know the things she would really like probably couldn't be bought.

He watched her extra carefully, trying to pick up on things that would interest her. He could find a book she would like, but he figured that would only be thoughtful if he read it before and liked it, and reading was never his forte. She liked animals, but he didn't think she would appreciate him finding her a pet. Besides, she already had Pepper. After many unusable ideas floated through his mind, he decided to go another way. He wandered through the temple until he spotted Pema walking with a basket in her arms. Kai figured that she probably knew Jinora better than anyone. He poked his head out from behind a pillar and hesitantly walked towards her.

"Do you need some help?"

Pema smiled at his offer. "That would be great, Kai. Thank you," she said as she handed the basket to him.

They walked quietly for a few moments as Kai tried to think of a way to ask her.

"So how has your training been going?" She asked, breaking the silence between them.

"Oh, it's great. It's a lot more fun now."

"I'm sure it is. Jinora always talks about how you're doing the best out of everyone. She really admires how hard you work."

Kai blushed at the mention of Jinora. He didn't know that she talked to her mom about him. He wondered if she talked about him concerning anything else. However, he pushed those thoughts away, deciding that this gave him a good opportunity to ask Pema about Jinora's birthday.

"Um, speaking of Jinora…" He focused on the contents of the basket, not wanting to make eye contact out of embarrassment.

"Yes?"

"Well, her birthday is coming up, right?

"In a few weeks, yes." Her smile grew, now getting an idea of where this was heading.

"Yeah…" He trailed off, suddenly losing all of his words. What exactly was he going to ask again? After thinking for a few more seconds, he spoke up. "I don't really know what to do."

They stopped walking, and, without missing a beat, she said, "You could ask her to be your girlfriend," giving him a smug smile.

"_What?_" His entire face turned a bright red, and he nearly fell down. Pema simply laughed at his reaction and gave him a knowing look.

"Kai, Jinora will love anything you do for her. She'll be happy just knowing that you thought of her."

"But I don't want her to like something just because I gave it to her. I want her to actually like it," he said, feeling hopeless about being able to find something, "I've known her for over a year, and I can't even think of something that she likes."

Pema placed a hand on his shoulder and bent down to be at eye level with him, "She likes you, so stop worrying so much."

"That doesn't really help."

"I'll tell you what. How about you make her a picnic? I can show you how to make her favorite snacks, and you can find a nice place to take her. It's thoughtful and not something you usually do, and you can both enjoy it together."

Kai looked down thoughtfully and a smile slowly crept onto his face. It wasn't a bad idea, and he could definitely see Jinora getting excited by a surprise like that. He wasn't exactly confident in his cooking abilities, but he was sure he could make something edible, and maybe even tasty, with Pema's help.

"Can we really do that?" He asked hopefully. This was sounding more perfect by the second.

"I don't see why not," she replied cheerfully, "You'll have some time to spare tomorrow afternoon, right?"

He nodded his head happily.

"We can practice making some things, then. Just come find me after you're done training for the day."

"Okay, thanks!" He placed the basket on the ground and gave her a quick hug before running off.

* * *

Over the next couple of weeks, Kai met with Pema whenever he could. They went over what they would make, and Pema started with showing him the techniques for making certain foods. He was nervous at first, but soon started to enjoy himself. Cooking wasn't as hard as he thought it would be, and spending time with Pema was nice, too. He always liked her because she seemed to like him well enough – or more than Tenzin at least, but he never spent much time around her when he wasn't with Jinora. She was patient when he accidentally messed up, she always asked him about his day, and she told him tons of funny stories – many of which involved Jinora when she was younger. Oddly enough, Kai wondered if this was what having a mom was like – if this type of thing was what he was missing out on his entire life.

When he wasn't learning how to cook, Kai was scouting for places to take Jinora. After days of looking, he finally found the perfect place. He grew more excited to see Jinora's face when she found out everything that he's been working on, and he hoped she would be as happy as he imagined she would be. Before he knew it, her birthday was only a few days away, and he had the confidence to give Jinora what he thought was a pretty amazing gift. However, it took all he had to not ruin the surprise. Kai wasn't exactly sure how or when it happened, but Jinora ended up becoming the person he told everything to. Every time he spoke to her, he had to bite his tongue to stop himself from telling her what he'd been doing during the day. Trying to find excuses to not spend time with her while he was preparing was even harder.

With her birthday only being a day away, Kai had mostly everything done. All of the food was already made, taste tested and all, and all that was left to do was put the picnic basket in place on the morning of. He had to admit that he felt pretty proud of himself, and he just hoped that Jinora would be as happy with him as he was with himself. Unfortunately, he wasn't off to a great start.

Kai saw Jinora walking from the meditation pavilion and called out to her. When she turned towards him to see him waving happily at her, she huffed angrily and continued walking. Confused at her reaction, he ran after her.

"Jinora, wait up!"

She stopped, and when he caught up to her, she swiftly faced him with irritation still etched into her features. Kai's heartbeat quickened slightly. As kind and sweet as she usually was, Jinora could strike fear into anyone who wasn't on her good side. He took the smallest step back, and tried to think of what to say.

"Are you okay?" He asked hesitantly.

She knitted her eyebrows at him, as if his question reached a level of stupidity that didn't even warrant an answer.

_Okay, wrong question_, he thought.

"Are you mad at me?" He asked.

Jinora let out a breath and finally responded, "Are _you _mad at _me_?"

Kai looked at her incredulously. "What are you talking about? You're the one who's acting all angry and mean!"

His words came out harsher than he intended, and that became clear when he saw a flash of surprise on Jinora's face before she clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

"I'm so-"

"You're the one who's being mean! You've been ignoring me for the past two weeks, and you're always making these stupid excuses to not be around me! If you're tired of me or don't want to be my friend anymore you don't have to lie to me, and don't tell me that you weren't; I already told you that I can tell when you're lying. Just tell me to my face and," she paused, and her expression softened before she continued, "you won't have to worry about me bothering you anymore."

Kai stood there, speechless. He tried to rack his mind for the right words to tell her that she was the furthest thing from the truth.

She looked at him with hopeful eyes, waiting for him to tell her that she was wrong, but he didn't. She started to turn away, so she could beat the tears that were beginning to prick at her eyes, but she was stopped by his hand reaching for hers.

"I'm not tired of you, and you're still my best friend. I'm really sorry that I haven't been around, but I'm just working on something. It'll all make sense tomorrow; I promise."

"Tomorrow?" She asked.

"Yeah," he said more cheerfully, "It'll be great. Just wait and see."

"Oh, okay." She said, a hint of a smile appearing on her lips.

He returned the smile, and they stood there for a few moments. When he saw Jinora's gaze drop downwards, he remembered that he was still holding her hand. Their eyes met once again as a blush dusted both of their cheeks. He let go, and he could've sworn that there was a brief look of disappointment on her face, but he figured that maybe he was just being a bit too hopeful.

"So you _did_ remember my birthday this year," she said as they were walking off together.

"Oh, that's tomorrow?"

* * *

"Are you going to tell me where we're going?" asked Jinora as she was taking Kai's lead while on their gliders.

"Are you going to be patient enough to find out when we get there?" he teased.

"Fine," she said, trying to sound annoyed, but failing due to her excitement. She tried her best to fight back a smile during the entire trip, and the anticipation was starting to kill her.

"We're here!"

When Jinora looked down, she saw a picnic basket in an area that overlooked a large lake that did nothing short of taking her breath away. They landed, and Jinora took in her surroundings before bringing her gaze back to a very hopeful looking Kai.

When he saw her eyes on him, Kai walked to the basket and pulled out a blanket for them to sit on. Jinora reached over to help him spread it out, but he stopped her and continued to do it by himself.

"You're the birthday girl. I'll do all the work," he said proudly.

A small blush crept onto her face as she watched him. The wind made him fumble with the sheets, and she had to stifle a laugh. Once he finished, he looked at her with a wide grin on his face. "Okay, ready."

They sat down together, and Kai started unloading all of the food. He went on to tell Jinora about how he'd been working on making everything for weeks. He told her about Pema helping him, all the mistakes he ended up making, and how hard it was to think up those crazy excuses he had to tell her so that she wouldn't find out. She listened to Kai amusedly, and affection for him bubbled up inside of her.

"You didn't have to do all this for me, you know," she said.

He gave her a puzzled look and replied, "I know. I wanted to. Do you not like it?" It never really occurred to him that she wouldn't like his present. Sure, it was always a possibility, but not one that he thought was likely. Not until now, at least.

However, those worries were put to rest when she threw her arms around his neck.

"I love it," she said.

She pulled away to smile at him. Her hands were still connected behind his neck, and his hands were resting on her back. He looked at her and was reminded of how beautiful her smile was, and he was happy that he was the reason behind it.

_You could ask her to be your girlfriend._

His heartbeat quickened as Pema's words rang in his ears. He considered it ever so briefly before coming to terms with the fact that he was just too scared.

_Another day_, he thought.

After returning to sitting next to each other, Jinora reached for a custard tart and stared at it. It looked as if something was on her mind, and confusion overcame Kai once again.

"Um, Jin?"

"Yeah?"

"Everything okay?"

"We've known each other for over a year."

"Yeah, we have," he said with a smile.

"We've never celebrated your birthday," she said.

"Oh," he said, looking down.

"Why didn't you tell me when it was your birthday?"

"You didn't tell me when your birthday was last year," he said, trying to justify himself and get off the topic as quickly as possible.

"But you still found out," she said, "_and _you got mad at me for not telling you until the day of, but you didn't tell me at all."

He didn't know what to say anymore, so he continued to avoid her eyes.

"When is it?" she asked.

He never liked birthdays, and he always found ways to avoid dealing with them. Mostly, he'd do that by just never talking about it. He never stuck around long enough for people to notice that his birthday never seemed to come around, and he was fine with things staying that way. He didn't realize that that would probably have to change eventually, now that he had a place he felt comfortable calling home – especially now that he had someone who cared about him enough to want to know.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"When I was a baby, I was dropped off at an orphanage, and it's not like my parents left anything with me. The orphanage I grew up in considered the day I was dropped off as my birthday." His saddened expression suddenly turned cold and he crossed his arms before he continued, "So why would I want to celebrate something stupid like that? I would rather not have a birthday at all, so I don't know when it is, and I don't need to know."

Jinora looked at him with pity. Kai never mentioned his parents before, so she never knew what exactly happened to them. She always assumed that they died, but maybe that wasn't the case. She wanted to say something to make him feel better – to make him smile again, but she didn't think that was possible right now, so she held his hand.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset," she said.

"It's not your fault," he said with a solemn smile, "I shouldn't be ruining your birthday by talking about stuff like this."

She squeezed his hand and shook her head. "You're not ruining anything," she said, and she thought for a moment before she added, "but what if you had another birthday?"

"Another one? Jinora, I think I have enough," he said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood again.

"You said that being at the orphanage wasn't something to celebrate, so what _is_ worth celebrating?"

Without hesitating, his face broke into a grin, and he said. "Meeting you."

Jinora felt heat rise to her face, but she smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah. I like the person I became after I found out I was an airbender and met you. That's when my life here started, and that's what I want to remember," he said more excitedly.

"Okay, then your new birthday can be the day we all met," said Jinora.

They brought their attention back to the picnic and started eating again. Kai kept stealing glances at Jinora, thankful for having someone like her. She helped him realize how much happier he could be if he let people into his life – the right people, at least. She made him become less afraid even though he stopped protecting himself as much. She helped him find a home.

"Hey, Jinora?"

"Yes?"

"I'm really, _really _glad I met you," he said.

Jinora's eyes soften, and she moved closer to him. "I'm really glad I met you, too."

Kai leaned in to kiss Jinora on the cheek, unaware that she was about to do the same. Their lips briefly met, and the two moved away as quickly as it happened. Jinora instinctively brought a hand to her mouth, and they stared at each other wide eyed while blushing furiously. Kai was the first to speak.

"I-I'm sorry. I meant – your cheek. I didn't know—"

"Yeah, me too," she said quickly.

They sat in silence, neither of them knowing what to do after their small blunder.

"Happy birthday?" said Kai cautiously.

Jinora's shoulders relaxed and she let out a small laugh. "_Thank you_."

* * *

**A/N: LOOK WHO'S BACK FROM THE DEAD. I don't really have much of an excuse. School. It gets busy, ya know? I got through my second wave of exams, and decided to take some time to give this fic some love. Hopefully I can put aside more time to write. I'm going to try to make the next couple of updates come sooner, since we're almost to the fun part. Thank you so much to everyone who's still reading, as well as those of you who follow/favorite/review. You guys are amazing, and you always make my day. I love you all :D I'll see you guys next chapter!**


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